The Lady's Butler: I Reincarnated To Serve The Villainess-Chapter 22: Breakthrough [1]: The Predator Becomes A Prey

Chapter 22: Breakthrough [1]: The Predator Becomes A Prey

Adrian opened his eyes, only to notice that the world around him was gone, replaced by complete darkness as far as his eyes could see.

Or rather, as far as they couldn’t see?

No matter the direction he looked, there was only darkness, whether be above him, below him or even to his sides.

Even his very own hands were not visible to him though they were close to his face.

With a sigh, he stood up straight and muttered, "is this what it feels like to breakthrough?"

Of course he expected some sort of trial since the protagonists and his friends had undergone some in the manhwa.

But they always had a clear goal that was revealed at the start of the breakthrough trial, they weren’t just randomly dropped into the void.

Still, he was sure he’d eventually figure it out if he wait for a while, and that was exactly what he did.

He waited.

But it seemed he didn’t have to wait for long, as alarms suddenly rang in his head as his instincts screamed for him to jump back.

Before his mind could catch up, his body had already moved, causing him to jump away just in time to avoid an attack aimed at his head.

"...What was that?"

Adrian raised his hands into a defensive stance, eyes narrowing as he see through the endless darkness that surrounded him, but it was futile.

He was basically blind.

"I see."

He in fact did not, but still he was sure he wouldn’t be at that much of a disadvantage, after all, he would just use his instincts to av—

BANG!

Something suddenly slammed into him, launching him backwards and knocking the air out his lungs.

He hadn’t even sensed the attack coming until it had already landed.

Adrian hit the ground made entirely of darkness, the impact rattling his bones.

For a brief moment, his mind went blank but his instinct quickly took over as his body rolled to the side.

Just in time to avoid something which crashed down where he had been lying only a moment earlier.

The force of the impact sent a shockwave through the darkness, brushing past him like a violent gust of wind.

Adrian forced himself to his feet, his chest rising and falling as he struggled to pull air back into his lungs.

"...Tch," he clicked his tongue as his expression darkened.

So much for relying on instincts.

The first attack had been clear enough for his body to react, but the second one...

He hadn’t sensed anything.

If this continued, it was only a matter of time before one of those attacks landed properly, and judging from the weight behind that last strike...

That would not end well.

Adrian exhaled slowly before he closed his eyes.

If his vision was useless anyway, there was no point relying on it, rather, he’d try to put all his focus on his instincts.

Soon enough, he felt something approaching from behind him at ridiculous speeds, and by habit, his eyes snapped open as he turned around.

That..... was a mistake.

Fortunately, he managed to lift his hand to block just as the attack landed, but the impact sent him skidding across the dark ground before he managed to stop himself with one hand.

"...Damn it."

So much for keeping his eyes closed.

He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, feeling a liquid which he assumed was blood on it.

Adrian slowly pushed himself back to his feet, his muscles were a bit tense.

"Alright," he muttered quietly.

"If I were designing a breakthrough trial..."

His gaze hardened,"...I wouldn’t make it this unfair without a reason."

But the trial truly did seem unfair, he was completely blind, could barely hear anything and could use none of his abilities.

"Except."

Slowly, he closed his eyes again, this time, determined to keep them closed, and again, it was as if he had been finally allowed to see.

At first, it was faint.

So faint that Adrian almost thought it was just his imagination, but the longer he kept his eyes closed, the clearer it became.

He couldn’t exactly say his background was clear to him, but he could finally make out his very own form in the darkness....and then, another.

"There you are," he whispered to himself as he waited for the creature, whatever it was, to make a move again.

The moment he could properly make out the creature, information on a skill immediately flowed into his head.

[Shadow Sense]

That was the name of the skill he had just unlocked, one that allowed him to sense disturbances in the shadows.

"So that’s what this was about," Adrian realized the point of the breakthrough test.

His objective was to defeat this beast, whilst at a massive disadvantage....at least in the beginning anyway.

The longer he lasted in this, the more he would discover more advantages that would keep on making the breakthrough easier.

Interrupting his thoughts, the beast, a wolf like shadow creature, rushed towards him again, a lot faster than before.

But this time, Adrian could clearly track its position, so he wasn’t too worried.

The moment the beast got close enough, he moved out the way, allowing it to brush past him before quickly quickly turning around and slamming his fist at its side.

BANG! 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The beast was sent tumbling before it stood back up, growled and suddenly retreated into the deeper darkness.

Adrian frowned slightly, he could still sense its presence, but something was different now.

The creature wasn’t trying to attack him anymore, instead, it was running away?

Fast.

Adrian instinctively stepped forward to chase, but after only a few steps he slowed down.

"...Wait," he muttered as he realized something else.

Even as the creature moved farther into the abyss, he could still feel where it was.

Without opening his eyes, he began walking forward slowly, following the trail that the creature seemed to be leaving behind.

As he did, a second stream of knowledge surfaced in his mind, flowing naturally from the shadows themselves.

It was another skill.

One that explained exactly what he was doing.

[Shadow Track]

Adrian’s smile slowly widened.

"Come on now," he said as he continued following the creature’s shadow trail through the abyss, "aren’t you supposed to be the monster?"

His voice was filled with amusement as he continued the chase.

"Then why are you the one running?"

Somewhere ahead, the creature let out a whimper as it continued retreating.

The roles had now been reversed and the shadow predator was now the prey.